Cochran Hall

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To ensure student retention, and to eliminate the threat of campus community factions, it was decided that the College needed to erect a building that would house 150 - 200 male students, provide club rooms, banquet rooms, and guest rooms. The community was ecstatic to hear this news, and The Campus stated “Allegheny’s best days are yet to come.” Allegheny College found a donor for this residence hall in Sarah Cochran. Deemed “The Lady-Elect of Old Allegheny,” she was the first woman Trustee of the College and held this position from 1908 until her death in 1936.

During the first week of May in 1905, classes halted and all students processed from Ford Chapel, in class order, to aid in the groundbreaking ceremony for Cochran Hall. Each class had an opportunity to ceremoniously move earth during this event. On April 23 1908, Cochran Hall was dedicated with much pomp and circumstance. During the ceremony, Sarah Cochran’s message to students was: “Tell them I think they are all perfectly lovely. I am so glad to give this nice building to such a splendid company of young men, and I want all the students to enjoy it always.”

At the time, it was the most expensive building on campus with construction costs totaling about $65,000. It is hard to remember that it was intended as a dormitory since it offered so many other spaces. Each of the two floors plus the basement provided 9,600 square feet on each floor, for a total of 28,800 square feet. A superstructure of red brick, trimmed with terra cotta, stood atop five feet of range-work of Berea stone. On the first floor, the main entryway was constructed in an Old English style, while the dining room on the southern portion of the first floor is in an Italian Villa style. This floor also contained a kitchen and a small eating club on the northern side of the building. The second floor ultimately contained housing for 30 men, including two guest suites. The basement contained a recreation room that was equipped with a shuffle board and two bowling alleys, as well as a YMCA, which had its own separate entrance.

Throughout the life of the building, it has had many uses. Cochran Hall has served as a fine dining hall, the Sociology and English departments, Allegheny Student Government, 90.3 WARC (Allegheny College Radio), the College post office and bookstore.

Today, Cochran Hall is the home of Allegheny College’s Alumni Affairs and Development offices. In 2004-2005, with a gift from Patricia Bush Tippie ’56 and Henry B. Tippie, Cochran Hall was returned to its original opulence, Sarah Cochran’s dream of wanting “students to enjoy it always” can be lived to its truest potential.

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Cochran Hall. 1907-1908. Architect Edward L. Tilton ~ Source: Image courtesy of William N. Owen.Painted portrait of Sarah B. Cochran: Sarah Cochran, designated “Best Friend of the College,” was the main benefactor of Cochran Hall, with a family fortune accrued from mining coal and manufacturing coke for steel production. She donated an additional $90,000 upon her death in 1936 to be used for the maintenance of the building and helped to fund Alden Hall and the Rustic Bridge.
~ Source: Image courtesy of Alexander NealCornerstone Ceremonies, June 19, 1907: The cornerstone was laid by Bishop William F. McDowell and Cochran Hall was dedicated within the year, on April 23, 1908. This image shows the campus before other college buildings were constructed.Cochran Hall, main entrance to The Tippie Alumni Center.: In October 2004, a new alumni center is dedicated at Homecoming. In this extensive renovation, the central portion of the original U of the building is filled by a two story atrium surrounded by a balcony, creating a grand entrance on the east side of the building. ~ Source: Image courtesy of William N. OwenCochran Hall's Italian Villa style dining room: In 1915, this was the original configuration of the south side of the building. ~ Source: Image courtesy of The Wayne and Sally Merrick Historic Archival CenterThe south wing of Cochran Hall housed the College Post Office from 1972-2004 ~ Source: Image courtesy of William N. OwenThe Tillotson Room: Today, the south wing is the Tillotson Room, restored as a fine dining hall, with a gift from Bill Tillotson (Class of 1952) and his wife Carol Hefren Tillotson (Class of 1954). Local craftspeople rebuilt the fireplace mantle, pillars and gallery railing using old photographs as a guide. Ten to fifteen coats of paint were meticulously removed from the oak-paneled walls during restoration. ~ Source: Image courtesy of William N. OwenStudent Army Training Corps, October, 1918: Cochran Hall becomes a mess hall and recreation center when Allegheny College is assigned a unit of the Student Army Training Corps. SATC was intended to prepare officers to serve in World War I, with additional trainees arriving from off-campus. The SATC is disbanded in December 1918. ~ Source: Image courtesy of The Wayne and Sally Merrick Historic Archival CenterA single dorm room in Cochran Hall when it was redecorated for women in 1933. ~ Source: Studios of Kurt C. Glaubach, Meadville, PA. Image courtesy of The Wayne and Sally Merrick Historic Archival CenterThe four Bowling alleys located in the basement of Cochran Hall, 1933. ~ Source: Image courtesy of The Wayne and Sally Merrick Historic Archival CenterAllegheny College Bookstore, 1963: Cochran Hall served as the location of the campus Bookstore from 1931 to 2004. Here, students with dinks on their heads purchase Allegheny gear. If you look closely, you can see that the student is purchasing an official garbage can, complete with Allegheny College seal. ~ Source: Image courtesy of The Wayne and Sally Merrick Historic Archival CenterCochran Hall Grill, 1964: In 1940, The Cochran Hall Grill opened in the old recreational room, remaining there until 1971, when it was moved to the completed Campus Center and the College Bookstore took over the space. Here students gather around a table, maybe having eaten a “Jumbo Toasted Hoagie” costing 55 cents. ~ Source: Image courtesy of The Wayne and Sally Merrick Historic Archival Center